A little earlier than expected, Microsoft has already released the Windows 7 release candidate to the general public. The Redmond company had already put the RC up for download on TechNet and MSDN, but from now on, everyone can download it. I've already updated all my Windows machines to the RC, so let's take a quick look at what I found. Note: The Windows XP Mode beta is also set to arrive today, but has not yet been made available. We'll update this item accordingly once it's released. Update: The Windows XP Mode beta is also available. Get it now!

Sorry, but for me it is not very smart to buy an expensive new windows incompatible with your legacy windows applications to run them using a XP virtualized...

Or you stay with Windows XP forever or you can use NOW linux as desktop and run your legacy applications on a virtual machine with XP inside. There are many free virtualization solutions like virtualbox, vmare server and player, etc.